Door construction



Sept. I 3, 1935,.

E. E. KOENIG El' AL DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 8, 1952 2 sheets-sheet 1 INVENTORS e Y Marg/5r 61a/ H04 ATTORNEYS Sept. 3, 1935,. E; KoENlG AL DOOR CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 8, 1932 m 5% mi. .fm www m mme A www Ham stares' orties DOOR CONSTRUCTION Elmer Edward Koenig,

Garfield Heights, George Mciiim Mills, Cleveland Heights, and Warner Gustav Huit, Cleveland, Ohio Application February 8, 1932, Serial No. 591,675

7 Claims.

This invention relates to door construction and more particularly to a sheet metal door especially adapted for use in connection with interior Walls and partitions.

Doors for building structures must be constantly furnished which when set up in the wall will swing in either direction and from either side of the door frame. This problem has heretofore been met only by making up a distinct door and door parts for each of these many requirements. Large stocks of stamped and rolled material must consequently be carried.

Furthermore, sheet metal doors made up in stock always present eld problems of erection and installation. irregularities in the floor, or the wall in which the door is to be installed, are often encountered. Metallic doo-rs as made heretofore cannot be cut or changed in size or shape in the eld Without either substantially weakening the door or sadly marring its appearance. To compete in price with doors made of other material, metallic doors must be so designed as to permit economy in manufacture and use of materials, The door should be especially strong at the joints between stile and rail members and adequately braced at the hinge and lock portions of the door.

An object of my invention is to provide sheet metal door parts which are interchangeable and reversible in position and from which assembled doors may be set up which will swing in either direction and from either side of the door frame as desired.

Another object of my invention is to provide a door which can be tted in the eld to accommodate the door to building irregularities without difficulty and with little labor and which permits performance of the fitting operation without in any way defacing the same or weakening the construction.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a door construction which is of unusual strength at points where the greatest strain occurs, which can be economically manufactured in stock sizes, which is easy to erect in the eld, and which can be made up in numerous pleasing and attractive designs.

Various other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following particular description and from an inspection of the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a face View of the assembled door, certain parts being broken away to show the interior construction;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal view looking down upon the top edge of the door;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross sectional view of the door, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

y Fig. 4 is a vertical face View of the free edge of the door;

(Cl. ISB- 46) Fig. 5 is a vertical face View of the hinged edge of the door;

Fig. 6 is a face View of the rear stile member forming part of the door;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged cross sectional View through the lock supporting structure, taken on line 'l--T of Fig. 9;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical face view of the front edge of the door showing the lock support= ing structure;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged horizontal cross sectional view through the front stile member, showing the lock supporting structure, this View being taken on the line 9-S of Fig. l; and

Fig. l0 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the Various positions in which the door may be hinged when assembled from the various parts as herein described.

Like reference characters denote like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

My clooi` assembly as shown in the drawings comprises generally a front stile member I9, a rear stile member El, top rail member l2, an intermediate rail member E3 and a bottom rail member la. The iront stile member I0 is formed or drawn from a one-piece sheet metal blank into the shape shown in Fig. 9, comprising the face portions l5, a beveled jam portion i6 and a panel receiving recess portion ll. The ends of the blank forming the stile member may be inturned as at I8 and welded together to form a complete enclosed member, except at the bottom and top where the panel recessing portion il' is cut away, as suggested rin Figure 6. The inside edge of the face portions i5 of the stile member may be stamped or rolled into a variety of artistic designs to form a molding portion I9.

The rear stile member is formed similarly to the front stile member and comprises the side face portions 2Q and the beveled jam portion 2l. The inner edge of the side face portion is stamped to form molding portions 22 to receive the edge of the door panel. Both the front stile member and rear stile member may be cut to the proper length from a continuous rolled section. The molding portions 22 are then cut away as shown in Fig. 6 to receive bracing members hereafter described.

The top rail member i2 as shown more particularly in Fig. 3 extends between the front and rear stile members and comprises side face portions 23 and 23. The side face portion 23 is provided with a molding portion 24 at the inner edge thereof, the molding portion being provided with an inturned ange 25 which forms a seat for the upper edge of the door panel 3l. The face portion 23 is provided with an inturned flange 26 along the inner edge thereof. A double U-shaped channel member 2l seats within the rail member and between the face portions 23 and 23 and is welded or otherwise secured thereto. A recess provided by an inwardly re-bent Portionv 28 in the web portion of the channel member 2l' is adapted to receive the leg portion 29 Of a molding stripV se. The ieg portion 2s is inserted into the recess 28 after the door panel 3l has been put in place, maintaining the molding strip 35 abutted against the panel and retaining the panel in place. at an angle through the molding strip Siland into the channel member 2 to more firmly retain the molding strip in place, if desired.

A U-shaped channel member 33 is inserted to fit between the side face portions 23 and 23 of the upper rail member and preferably extend to within one inch of outside dimensions of overall door width. Web portion Si of the channel member extends between the side face portions 23 and 23, and the ange portions 35 extend outwardly and are welded orA otherwise secured to the side face portions 23 and 23. The channel member 33 strengthens the rail member l2y and the upper ends of stile members lll and lll at the very points where the stress is greatest. Furthermore, the upper edge of the door can now be easily illed or sawed off in the eld, if necessary, to get the proper fit without in any way defacing the door or weakening its construction.

The rail member l2 is further secured to the stile member l l by means of a vertically extending channel piece St, as shown in Figs. l and 3. The flange portions 31 of the channel piece are welded or otherwise secured to the side faces 23 and 23 of the rail member l2 and the side faces 2E' of the rear stile member 2l. Similarly, the other end of the rail member l2 is secured to the front still member lll by means of a channel piece 3B having its flange portions welded to the side faces 23 and 23 of the rail member l2 and to the side face portions l5 of the stile member l. The flange portions of the channel pieces 35 and 38 also provide a foundation for arc welding the exposed joints between the rail member i2 and rear stile member l l and front stile member it respectively. A sturdy and strong construction is thus obtained.

The bottom'rail member i4 of the door may be made from a single piece of metal in the form shown in Fig. 3, comprising side face portions 2S having parallel molding portions il formed at the upper edge thereof with a panelreceiving recess il therebetween. The lower edge of the rail member lll is preferably closed by an inverted channel member l2 which extends through the rail member l@ and into the stile members l and il and substantially the entire width of the door. The side anges i3 of the channel member seat closely against the side face portions of Vthe base rail member, the side face portions l5 of the front stile member, and the side face portions 2i) of the rear stile member H, all secured together to form a strong assembled unit. As above pointed out it is seen that by turning the flanges 153 outwardly, the lower edge of the door can be led or -sawed off if necessary to obtain the proper t without in any wayv reducing the structural strength or appearance of the door. Channel shaped sections lili and l5 may be provided as above described to further strengthen the construction along the rail and stile joints, the side flanges of the channel members id and i5 being suitably welded to the side faces 29 of the rail member id and respectively to the side faces I5 of the front stile member l@ and the side faces 20 of the rear stile Screws 32 may be sunk r halves may be welded together at the bottom of the Y recess tl'. If formed from one piece, the ends may be also Welded together at the bottom of the recess in a manner similar to stile member lil as shown in Fig. 9. Channel pieces i9 and 55 are inserted within the intermediate railrmember I3Y and between the side facesfi thereof. The side flanges of the channel piece @9 are welded to the side face it `of the rail member i3V and` to the side faces i5 the stile member i@ and similarly the side anges of the channel piece 55 are welded to the side faces it of the rail member i3 of the side flanges 2li of the stile member l i. The joint between the rail member i3 and front andrear stile members are arc welded and ground to present seamless joints. The door panel 5l which may be formed of metal, glass, wood, composition, or laminated material, and is retained in position by panel recesses in the stile member Eil, in the base member M, and in the rear stile member l i. YThe panel 5l is locked in place during manufacture by intermediate rail member i3.

The molding portions i8 of the intermediate rail member i3 are suitably cop'ed at the ends thereof -f smoothly iit the respective molding portions i9 n and 22 of the stile members, and the joint thus formed is welded and ground together. The molding portions 24 and 30 of the top rail member l2 are similarly treated so as to form smooth and even joints at the stile member intersections.

TheV

The ends` In order to obtain an accuratelyradusted and inside face of the beveled jam portion El at theV points where the hinges are to be secured to the door. As shown more particularly in Figs. 1, 5 and 6, the flange portions 52 of the bracket are welded to the inside face of the beveled jam portion 2 I. An opening 54 is cut in the jam portion 2! opposite a pocket portionV 53 provided in the bracket. A heavy metal plate 55 seats within the opening 5. and rests in the pocket portion 53 of the bracket and may be secured thereto by countersunk screws or rivets. The hinge, not shown, is then placed over the plate 55 and within the opening 513 to lie flush with the jam portion 2l. The hinge may be secured to the plate 53 by means of screws or other means. The construction above describeddistributes the great strain at the hinged portion of the door so that the door will never sag or become distorted inhung position.

Means are also provided in the front stile member I0 to suitably support the lock unit. Generally a U-shaped channel member having side iianged portions 5l and a web portion 58 is in serted within and welded to the stile member at the point where the lock unit is attached, as shown more particularly in Figs. '7, 8 and 9. An opening 59 is out in the beveled jam portion i6 in the stile member l@ to receive the face plate, not shown, of the lock structure. The web portion 58 of the U-shaped member is provided with a pair of blisters 6@ which abut the inner surface of the jam portion l5 and maintain the web portion 58 spaced a fixed distance therefrom. The web portion 58 is also provided with a pair of inwardly stamped portions 6l to which the face plate securing means are fastened. The side face por tions I5 are each provided with a pair of spaced openings 62 through which the lock mechanism extends. This opening may be covered with an escutcheon plate, not shown. A pair of openings 63 which line up with the openings 62 are cut in the side 'flanges 5l of the lock supporting channel member. A pair of inwardly extending tabs 64 struck out from the side flange portions 5l extend inwardly into the stile member to support the lock mechanism. The lock supporting structure as above described is economical to assemble within the stile member Eil, rmly supports the lock unit and greatly strengthens the door at this point.

Both sides of our door are identical in exterior appearance, as is evident by an examination of the figures shown in the drawings. This feature permits the door to be hung in either the A or D position shown in Figure 10. Now it will be noticed that the ends of the rear stile member Il, shown in Figure 6, are identical in appearance, and that the hinge brackets 53 are spaced an equal distance from the ends. This stile member is thus made reversible end for end so as to fit the door jamb as arranged in positions C and B of Figure l0. Similarly, the front stile member I0 is reversible end for end without changing its appearance, the spaced openings 62 being disposed on opposite ends of the center line C-C of the door, as shown in Figure 1. The front door stile member when reversed end. for end would likewise fit the door jamb as arranged in positions C and B of Figure 10. The rail members l2, i3 and I4, as well as the panels 3l and 5l, are identical on both sides, and would fit the front and rear stile members if arranged in any of the positions shown in Figure l0. This feature of interchangeability permits of a great reduction in bent shapes which must be carried in stock since only one set of shapes need be carried to meet all the conditions shown in Figure l0, which are constantly occurring.

The door when assembled is also .extremely flexible to adjustment for floor or door jamb irregularities. Ihe length of the door can be quickly cut down considerably without in any way marring its appearance or reducing its strength. All joints and parts receiving the greatest strain are strongly reinforced and the door as a whole represents a sturdy and economical assembly.

While certain novel features of the invention have been disclosed and are pointed out in the annexed claims, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A door construction of the character described, comprising a channel shaped stile member having the legs thereof directed inwardly,V a hollow rail member abutted against said stile member, and a channel shaped bracing piece, .extending vertically between said stile member and rail member, said bracing piece being secured to said rail member and to the legs of said stile member.

2. A door construction of the character described, comprising stile members, a one-piece channel shaped rail member connecting said stile members, the legs of said channel shaped rail member extending downwardly with the free edges thereof forming the bottom of the door, a channel shaped bracing member seated within said rail member and extending horizontally into said stile members, and channel shaped bracing pieces extending vertically between said rail member and stile members, said bracing pieces being secured to the legs of said rail member.

3. In a door construction, the combination of a hollow stile member, a channel shaped stiftening piece enclosed within said stile member, and a struck out tab portion extending inwardly from one of the flange portions of said channel shaped stiifening piece for supporting a lock unit.

4. In a door construction, the combination of a hollow stile member, and a channel shaped stiffening piece seated within said stile member and shaped to conform to the interior contour thereof, said channel shaped stiening piece having openings in the flange portions thereof through which the door handle may extend, and an opening in the web portion thereof through Which the locking bolt of the lock unit may extend.

5. In a door construction, the combination of a hollow stile member, and a channel shaped stiffening piece enclosed within said stile member, said channel shaped stiffening piece having openings in the flange portions thereof through which the door handle may extend, struck out tabs extending inwardly from the flange portions for supporting a lock unit, and an opening in the web portion thereof through which the locking bolt of the lock unit may extend.

6. In a door construction, the combination of a hollow stile member, and a channel shaped stiffening piece enclosed within said stile member, said channel shaped stiffemng piece having struck out tabs extending inwardly from the flange portions thereof for supporting a lock unit, and means on the web portion thereof for supporting the face plate of the lock unit.

7. A door construction of the character described comprising a channel shaped stile member having inturned flanges and having an opening cut in the web portion thereof, a hinge portion seated within said opening and being ush with the outer web surface of the stile member, and a bracket positioned within said stile member and ,extending over said opening, said bracket having ange portions secured to the inner face of the web portion of the stile member and a depressed portion forming a pocket within which said hinge portion is retained.

ELMER EDWARD KOENIG. GEORGE MCKIM MILLS. WARNER GUSTAV HULT. 

